Former Time Warner Inc chairman and chief Executive Richard Parsons will step down from the board by its next annual general meeting, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.

Parsons, who has been on the Time Warner board since 1991, helped the company negotiate the difficult aftermath of its widely derided merger with AOL in 2000.

As chief executive and later chairman he also helped soothe activist investors such as Carl Icahn who were seeking to break up the company in a bid to boost value.

He stepped down as CEO in December 2007 and relinquished the role of chair in last December.

In recent months Parsons has been involved in a similar diplomat-director role to his time at Time Warner. As the recently appointed chairman of Citigroup Inc he has helped the board and management in coping with the difficulties of the global credit crunch and pressures from U.S. lawmakers after receiving around $45 billion of taxpayer-funded bailout capital since October.

Parsons notified Time Warner on Mar 18 of his decision not to stand for re-election to the board at the next annual meeting of shareholders which usually takes place in May.

Colgate-Palmolive Chairman Reuben Mark also notified Time Warner of his decision to stand down from the board at the next annual meeting, according to the filing.

(Reporting by Yinka Adegoke)

Carl icahn Time Warner Investment Citigroup